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Ryan publicly acknowledged Saturday that he and other Rangers officials had an initial meeting with Fielder and his agent, Scott Boras.

During a question-and-answer session with fans at the team's annual winter FanFest, Ryan said the meeting Friday was to try to get a true feel for what Fielder and Boras are thinking. Ryan says it is very early in any type of negotiation process to even know if something might work out between the AL champion Rangers and the 27-year-old first baseman.

The Rangers have a Wednesday deadline to complete a contract with Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish. Ryan has expressed optimism that will happen.